On June 5th, in the first round of the 'Nippon Life Central and Pacific Leagues Interleague 2026' between Tokyo Yakult and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham held in Jingu Stadium, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham win 3-1.

Starting pitcher Ren Fukushima pitcher gave up a go-ahead RBI single to Yoshihiro Akabane with two outs and runners on first and second in the first inning. Even so, he survived a crisis with two outs and runners on second in the bottom of the second, and retired all three batters in order in the bottom of the third. He carried runner for four consecutive inning from the fourth inning but did not give up any additional runs. He pitched 112 pitches over 7 innings, throwing 5 hit 4 Walk 1 runs, earning his first double-digit strike out with 10 struck out pitched.

Although the lineup wanted to respond to strong pitching, they struggled to get hit to second base even once in front of the opposing starter Taichi Yamano pitcher through the sixth inning. However, in the top of the seventh, with one out, Reyes hit his 11th solo homer into the left field stands, bringing the game back to square one.

The match went to extra inning with a one-on-one draw. In the bottom of the 10th, with one out and bases loaded in a crisis, Taisei Yanagawa pitcher successfully put out the fire, and immediately after, in the top of the 11th, Tatsuki Mizuno hit his go-ahead solo homer for the second time. Furthermore, with consecutive long and short hits by Reyes and Chusei Mannami, the score became 3-1.

In the bottom of the 11th, with a two-run lead, Takumi Yamamoto pitcher allowed the leadoff hitter to infield hit, but they got out of the next pitcher to end the game. Reyes showed resilience on both pitching and hitting, including his second consecutive Home Run, and secured a victory in the crucial opening game of the series.

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Day 00000010002 3
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Ren Fukushima-Seigi Tanaka-Hiroya Shimamoto Mizuki Hori- ○ Taisei Yanagawa- S Takumi Yamamoto
Ya Yamano Taichi - Shimizu Noboru - ● Kihada - Ozawa Reishi

Written by Ao Yokoyama